Chair



Mayl, 1945. O,w BOU SR I 2,374,801

CHAIR Filed Sept. 2, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 j gq 4Q 0. ilmazicisfln l N VEN TOR.

y .1945- o. w. BOLICK. .sR 2,374,801

CHAIR Filed s t. 2, 1942 2 Shets-Shieet 2 INVENTQR.

Patented May 1, 1945 CHAIR-,7 Oscar W. Bolick, Sr'., Conoven'N. Application September 2, 1942, Serial No. 457,072

1 Claim.

This invention relates to chairs of that type adapted to be upholstered. Heretofore it has been the practice to utilize metal springsfor the purpose of providing desired resiliency inuthe seat'and back portions of chairs. Due to the shortage of metals at the present time, it has been found, necessary to utilize means'other than metal springs in order that chairs may retain their cushioning qualities.

An object of the present invention is to provide simple but eflicient means whereby the seat and back portions of the chair can be made properly. resilient without the employment of metal springs, the means employed being simple, durable and eflicient and so constructed as to be applied readily to a chair frame and to be easily removed therefrom when repairs or replacements are deemed necessary.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claim, it being understood that changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred form of the invention has been shown.

In said drawings:

Figure 1 is a central vertical section through the chair, the cushions being indicated by dotted lines.

Figure 2 is a front elevation with parts broken away. i

Figure 3 is a section on line 3-3, Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a section on line 4-4, Figure 3.

Figure 5- is a plan view of one front corner portion of the seat frame.

Figure 6 is a section on line 66, Figure 5.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference, I designates the seat frame of a chair, the same being supported by front legs 2 and rear legs 3. The rear legs have upwardly extended portions 4 connected as at 5 so as thus to form a back frame rigidly joined to the seat frame.

The inner corners of the upper portions of the legs 2 are cut away as shown at 6 to provide seats 1. Secured to the sides of the frame 1 adjacent to the front legs 2 are blocks 8 and these blocks cooperate with the cut-away portions 6 of the legs 2 to provide sockets or recesses. Depending within each of the recesses is a loop 9 formed of a. silencer for receiving. one end .of a resilient flat bar H of wood havingpthe desired degree of resiliency and this bar is extended transversely of. the seat frame close ,to: the front. thereof.

, Secured to the inner sides of the; membersd close to the top connections 5 are blocksglzt. each of which has a deep recess: |i3?.extending;-;thereinto from its front edge forming a pocket. Seated in this pocket is a loop [4 of soft flexible material having its ends fastened by means of tacks I 5 or the like. These loops constitute silencers and embrace the ends of a resilient cross-bar I 6 of flexible soft material the ends of which overlap each other and are secured to the top of the block 8 as indicated at It]. Each of these loops forms wood which is located between the side members 4 close to the top thereof and is adapted to flex downwardly. t

For the purpose of preventin the bar IGfrom being accidentally withdrawn from its terminal seats, cover strips I! are detachably secured to the front edges of the side members 4 bymeans of screws or the like.

A flexible sheet of fabric indicated at [8 has one end wrapped about and fastened to the bar l6 and from this bar said sheet is extended downwa'rdly and thence forwardly, the forward end being wrapped around and secured to the bar I I. Extending transversely of and secured to the sheet I 8 within the angle formed by the seat portion S and back portion B of the sheet is a restraining strip IQ of suitable fabric the ends of which are extended downwardly and backwardly and detachably secured in any suitable manner to the back portion of the seat frame. This restraining strip I9 is adapted to hold the seat l8 under tension, this tension being maintained because of the fact that bar I l is adapted to flex backwardly while the bar -I6 is adapted to flex downwardly.

The seat portion S of the structure is designed to support a stuffed seat cushion indicated generally at C while the back portion B of the sheet I8 is adapted to support a, stuffed back cushion C. These cushions C and C can be detachably mounted on the sheet orthey can be secured to it. 7

Obviously when the seat cushion C is subjected to the weight of a load, the supporting seat portion S of the sheet will flex downwardly :under the load, this being permissible due to the fact that the bar II will be caused while bar IE will be caused to flex downwardly. Additional downward flexing of the bar I6 will occur when a back pressure is exerted against the cushion C' and the back portion B of the sheet I8.

If desired the angle portionof the sheet I 8 or to flex backwardly seat bottom can be stiffened transversely by means of a transverse wooden bar 20 under the from the chair bottom whereupon the entire structure made up of the sheet l8 and the bars can be removed. This is desirable for the purpose of cleaning the parts or for making repairs or replacements.

It has been found in practice that a chair such as herein described possesses all of the essential resiliency of an ordinary chair provided with metal springs. It is less expensive, however, than a chair utilizing metal springs and is also adyantageous because of the ease with which the parts can be assembled and taken apart, the durability of the structure, and the efilciency thereof.

What is claimed is:

In a chair the combination with a seat frame having side notches in the front portion thereof, a back frame rigidly joined thereto, and supporting legs, of a normally flat flexible bar supported at its ends between and by the sides of the back frame, a transversely extended normally flat, flexible bar supported between and by the sides of the seat frame and removably seated at its ends in the notches, sound deadening loops embracing said ends and secured to the frame, said loops constituting retaining means for the said bar, both of said bars being thin and wide to flex in one direction and resist flexing in another direction, a flexible sheet of material secured at one end to and rigidly supported at one end by one of the bars and secured to and rigidly backed at its other end by the other bar, s'aid sheet providing a seat portion merging into a back portion and constituting means for flexing each of the bars in onedirection only whenthe sheet is subjected to a downwardly or backwardly directed load, a restraining bar back of and connected to the sheet where the back portion merges into the seat portion, and flexible connections between the ends of said bar and the sides of the seat frame.

' OSCAR W. BOLICK, S RJ 

